DIET OF THE KING PENGUIN APTENODYTES-PATAGONICUS DURING 3 SUMMERS AT SOUTH GEORGIA

King Penguins Aptenadytes patagonicus which were rearing chicks were s tudied during three summers from November 1991 to March 1994 at South Georgia; Stomach samples (n = 115) collected by flushing had a mean ma ss of 1308 g, Fish mass was allocated to each species based on the rel ationship between fish mass and otolith length, Three mesopelagic lant ernfishes (Myctophidae), Krefftichthys anderssoni, Electrona carlsberg i and Protomyctophum choriodon, dominated the diet both by numbers and mass, They were small fish with mean mass of 3-7 g, Overall, K. ander ssoni dominated the diet in terms of numbers and mass. Although Barrac udina Notolepis coatsi occurred in <3% of the diet by numbers, it was large (106 g) and was second most important in terms of mass. Squid re presented <3% of the diet by mass, Although the chick-rearing success was poor in the 1993-1994 summer, meal size was not reduced but foragi ng trips were longer in the 1993-1994 summer, a larger proportion of t he otoliths were not identifiable because they were more completely di gested, Fewer otoliths were identified as being those of K. anderssoni , but we argue that about 90% of the unidentified otoliths were K. and erssoni. There was also more squid and N. coatsi in the diet during th e poor summer A consistent trend was that P. choriadon was rare or abs ent in early summer but more important later in the year, and at the e nd of 1992-1993, it was the dominant prey. We conclude that myctophid fish, especially K. anderssoni, are the main summer prey of King Pengu ins rearing chicks at South Georgia, as found in other recent: studies in the Southern Ocean.